Wild Nights Zoo After Dark

Last week Sir N and I had the delightful opportunity to join Paul at Werribee Open Range Zoo as the staff prepared for their annual Wild Nights Zoo After Dark.

This annual event begins today. We had a fantastic adventure last year.

In fact it made such an impression on Sir N, since he has heard that it's on again has been counting the sleeps until we can go.

Top Left - Nanki the serval Right - Promethean Jester
Bottom L - Sir N admiring the lights R - Promethean Jester

When and Where

• Saturday 30th June to Saturday 14th July 2012
• 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
• Entry closes at 7 pm
• Werribee Open Range Zoo
• This is an all-weather activity and will run in most conditions.

What to bring 

• Warm jackets
• Gum boots if it's been raining.
• Torch with red / blue celephane accross the front.  Use an elastic to secure your celephane.
• A big sense of adventure
• Your Camera
• Zoo Membership card if you have one.

The Cost

• Children 4-15 FREE (during school holidays/public Holidays/Saturday/Sunday)
• Zoo Members FREE
• Adult $25-40
• Concession and Package deals please visit Admission Prices
• For day visitors wanting to stay on for Wild Nights there is an upgrade available for $10.
• Serval under the Stars $2
• Night Safari - Adults / Children $55 (Friends of the zoo $ 35)

What's there to do ?

• Serval Under the Stars 
• Explore the Zoo with your torch
• Meet the Keepers
• Barbeque Marshmallows
• Watch some acts by the Promethean Jesters
• Nocturnal House - Creatures of the Night
• In the huts there are plenty of interactive things for the kids to try.

Hope to see you there !
Blessings
Chareen

HSMJ - Gifts to give to YOU !

In my life this week…

I am so excited! It's my blogs birthday and I have some gifts to give You! So pop over to the post leave a comment, follow me or blog about it.  Then don't forget to add your entry to the rafflecopter to go in the draw.

The giveaway is open world wide.

I have really enjoyed my home school days with Sir N this week.  Something seems to have clicked and the two of us have been working well together.

In our homeschool this week…

• We have continued learning about plants and their anatomy.
• Finished reading Dr Doolittle.
• We started with South Africa in our Expedition Earth studies.  We coloured in the flag and started reading Letters from around the world: South Africa and the abridged version of Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.
• In light of the fact that next month marks the begining of the 30th modern Olympics I managed to get some books from the library which we started reading.  So far I have been impressed with The Story of the Olympics  (Serries Usborne Young Reading) by Minna Lacey.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• Over at The Quotidian Reader I read Thoughts on "Less is More" Homeschooling.  I feel refreshed and encouraged and equiped to reevaluate our homeschool choices.
• I found this post after reading the above one:  Ten ways to simplify homeschooling.  Love reading this list but will say on the outset I do not entirely agree with every point.  I am listing it here because there are some excellent gems among it.
• 2nd Grade Homeschool for FREE (or nearly Free) over at Teaching My 3.  Great list of resources.
• 1st Grade Homeschool for FREE over at Teaching my 3. This page contains loads of links for teaching first grade.
• Life Skills Ages 2-18 over at Busy Kids = Happy Mom
• Encourage a Beginner Reader - Sight Word Chart for the Home over at Busy Kids = Happy Mom

I am inspired by…

• All the wonderful mom's who share and encourage one another in the blog world.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• This week we have tried to stay home and not flit about the country side as much.  I must say I am feeling more rested and so is Sir N.
• We visited Mrs T and had loads of encouragement.  She shared a new book on Character with me which I am keen to purchase and use.  It's called:  Get Wisdom!
• We went to Werribee Open Range Zoo one evening to watch the staff prepare for the upcoming Wild Nights which starts on June 30th.  We even partook in a news paper photo shoot.  So we are waiting to see if Sir N will feature in the news paper on Sunday. We went last year and had a blast so we are looking forward to going again this year.  I highly recommend it.
• Today we went to see Ice Age 4.  Was not overly impressed with it but Sir N enjoyed it emensly.

My favorite thing this week was…

• Having a cup of tea with a friend.  We have been trying to catch up for the last six months but something always seems to happen and put a spanner in the works. 

What’s working/not working for us…

• Finally getting to the library and taking out some books to help us learn about South Africa and the up comming Olympics.

Questions/thoughts I have…

• What are you using to study the Olympics with your children ?
• Can you recommend any notebooking resources ?
• Which books have you enjoyed ?  I am looking for books for a seven year old.

Things I’m working on…

• A unit study on the modern Olympics
• A unit study on South Africa

I’m reading…

• Why you should not put an SD card in your Canon 5D Mark III (if you shoot to both CF and SD and care about speed) by Jeff Cable.  He is a photographer who will be working at the Olympics this summer in England.
• The Consequence Planner - The Danger of Raising Nice Kids by Timothy Smith over at Busy Kids = Happy Mom.
• Countdown to Independence for Kids over at Busy Kids = Happy Mom.
• Kiwi Crate Blog having a look at their Two Ingredient Tuesdays posts.  Great idea to use two items to have some fun with your children. 
• Birthday Traditions Roud-up over at Kiwi Crate Blog.

I’m cooking…

•  Babootie a traditional South African dish.

On Pinterest I found...

• I have been looking for things to study Character with Sir N. 
• 15+ Pinterest Boards Teachers Should Be Following This is a blog post listing 15 great pinners to be following.
• B. Barrett her boards are comprehensive and easy to look through.

I’m grateful for…

•  The homeschool mums who have donated electronic product for my blog birthday give away.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Source:  Facebook: AussieHomeschool

Blessings

This post is linking to:
Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
The Homeschool Chick

The Home school Mother’s Journal began as a single post on a Friday morning over at The Homeschool Chick, and turned into a link-up for homeschool mothers across the blog-O-sphere to share a piece of their journey with one another each week.

The link party has moved and is now hosted over at iHomeschool Network and is open from Friday to Monday so join me in The Homeschool  Mothers Journal and lets encourage one another on our homeschool journey.

First Birthday Give Away

It's my blog's FIRST birthday  and I am inviting YOU to come and help me celebrate.

In response to my HSMJ two weeks ago, some wonderful ladies in bloggy land have generously donated products for a Birthday Giveaway. These are all digital (Just Plain Nora is avalable in paperback or ebook your choice) and you can enter from anywhere in the world!

There are a few options of how to enter via the Raffelocopter at the bottom of this post and a few prizes up for grabs. Please make sure to read the Terms and conditions before entering.



Some ways to enter are:

• Leave a comment on THIS post, 
• Follow Every Bed of Roses,  
• Like Every Bed of Roses on Facebook or 
• blog about this giveaway and invite those visiting your blog to pop on over it's up to you !

 Gifts in the raffle:

Thank you to Jenn from Little Homeschool on the Prairie who has donated your choice of a Kindle edition of Just Plain Nora or a signed paperback by the author.

Eastern Colorado, 1881: Nora Smith is growing up as a middle child in a frontier family. She struggles with feeling insignificant and just plain ordinary . If only she can win the Mountain Springs spelling bee, her problems will disappear! Nora prepares for her moment to shine as champion of the bee. However, other circumstances prevail, proving to Nora the importance of just being herself. Just Plain Nora is recommended for children, age eight to twelve.

Interrested in a sneak peak of the story? Pop on over to Amazon.

Deborah has recently rejoined the blogging community over at The Paper Maid and has some great free notebook pages as well as some for purchase over at TpT.  She has donated one product of your choice from her Teahers pay Teachers store.

Jimmie from Jimmie's Collage and The Notebooking Fairy has donated a TWO sets of her eBooks books for two participants to win.

Have you wanted to implement Notebooking into your home school ?  Jimmie has created an excellent eBook that will help you not only implement notebooking but answer these questions:
Am I using notebooking to its fullest potential ?
How do I know if my children are really learning ?
How do I use notebooking to help my children learn and to remember what they learn ?
What should I expect from different ages ?

This book is not a workbook or a set of lesson plans nor is it a curriculum.  It is a how to manual that teaches the teacher the ins and outs of notebooking.
Notebooking Success is available to purchase for the Summer Special of $5.50 over at The Notebooking Fairy.  **

Jimmie recently took part in a 10 Days of Language Arts blog hop from which Designing Your Language Arts Curriculum was birthed.

The guidelines and advice in Designing Your Language Arts Curriculum will help you navigate the complicated waters of teaching such a broad field as language arts.
What is essential?
What is optional?
What are some effective methods for teaching?
The ten topics covered are: grammar, spelling, vocabulary, poetry, reading, literature, building a library, writing, Shakespeare, and public speaking.

The eBook is in PDF format and can be purchased at Jimmies Collage for $3-00.**

 **If you purchase these books from Jimmie and win the give away, Jimmie will fully refund your purchase price.

I look forward to meeting new friends and chatting to the ones who are here all ready !

Blessings
Chareen

The give away will commence at 12:01 AM EST / 2PM Australia NSW time on Wednesday 27th June

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Giveaway Terms and Conditions:

• The give away will commence at 12:01 AM EST / 2PM Australia NSW time on Wednesday 27th June and be open until midnight EST /  Wednesday July 4th, 2012. Winner will be announced by Sunday July 8, 2012.
• No purchase necessary to win.
• Giveaways are held with Rafflecopter; commenting will not enter you.
• Winners are chosen by Random.org through Rafflecopter
• Must be 18 years of age or older at time of entry.
• If prize winner forfeits or does not claim the prize, prize will be re-awarded at my sole discretion. Void where prohibited by law. 
• Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry, winner will be chosen at random! 
• Please leave a way for me to contact you in your entry otherwise another winner will be chosen. 
•  NOTE: This giveaway is offered worldwide, to anyone with internet access. 
• This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. 
• Odds of winning based on number of entries. In order to enter the contest you must leave a comment on THIS post. To leave a comment scroll to the bottom of the post and click “Post a comment” (Facebook comments will not count, if you are reading this via RSS, you will need to visit my actual blog to post a comment.) 
• By entering this contest, you agree to release Every Bed of Roses and all associated parties/sponsors of any liability.
• Winners will be announced in a Giveaway Post 
• The cost of the eBooks are correct at time of giveaway.  It is your responsibility to check the current price of any items before purchasing. 
• Non of the links in this post are affiliate links.
• Disclosure: I was provided with a free copy of Designing Your Language Arts from Jimmie.  

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

 Welcome to Tuesdays Treasures.  I started these posts as a way of sharing great books in honour of my friend in New Zealand who would arrive with the treasures she had unearthed at her weekly trip to the library!

There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so I invite you to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library and add your post to Learning All the Time Favourite Resource Link Up. 



This week ...

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Reading level: Ages 12 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Laurel Leaf (May 15, 1978)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0440995779
ISBN-13: 978-0440995777
Sonlight: Core D

I kind of raised my eyebrows at this book when we first received it from Sonlight.  The word forbids us to have anything to do with witchcraft and here they send me a book with this title.  I felt a little bent out of shape over the title and after a little hesitation I choose to trust their choice and read the book outloud.  I am so pleased that I did as this book brings back many happy memories of reading out loud with my teens.  It's a sit on the edge of your seat in anticipation book, full of great illustrations of wrong perceptions and commited friendships.

Follow Kit Tyler, orphaned and on her way to live with her Aunt in Connecticut.  Kit's journey goes ary from day one when she dives over board to rescue a childs toy and rumours of her in the community begin. Feeling deeply out of place in the Puritan household of her Aunt she soon befriends another outcast who is considered a witch by most. Whereupon innocent acts soon find her on trial for witchcraft.

Many of the places in the novel are actual places in Old Wehtersfield, Connecticut.

Reviews:

• "The book has a lively plot and excellent characterizations. The background has every dimension of reality." The New York Times 
• "Rarely has a book taken us back into seventeenth-century life as this does." The New York Herald-Tribune
• "Strong plot, fully realized characters, and convincing atmosphere distinguish this historical narrative." Booklist, ALA 

Mc Graw Hill Education has an excellent site with a 22 page Study Guide (FREE) in PDF format for you to download.  Simply choose your state (there is an international option) choose to use as a student/parent and search other books.  Excellent site worth bookmarking.

This book is available from:  Book Depository UK, Book Depository COM, Amazon, Fishpond.

Blessings

The Sea Shepherd

We joined some fellow home schoolers for an outing and tour of the Steve Irwin last week.

I asked about their logo which is rather controversial and discovered that it is based on pirate lore.  It takes a pirate to catch a pirate.  The fork represents Neptune's Navy, the shepherds crook those who care for the oceans fauna and the skull is part of their aim to catch the pirate.

I have always been under the impression that Sea Shepherd were a part of Greenpeace.  I learn't that they parted ways in 1977 hence the 77 on their ships.  Their history makes for some interresting reading.

Our guide (whose name I can't remember) is a former ice road trucker was excellent.  He was engaging funny and relevant to the age of the students.

Sir N enjoying being at the helm

The ship is covered in amazing works of art. Most of the staff on board are volunteers.  A few of the professional staff are employed.

The diet on board is Vegan. All staff sign an indemnification when boarding.  They acknowledge that it could be dangerous and they could loose their lives while on board and in pursuit of a whaling ship.

When in the arctic zone all staff working outside have to wear the orange suit.  The orange is for visability. It helps them to stay warm and will protect them if they fall in the water.  The water is so cold that you would die within three minutes if you had no protection.

They have a chopper on board and have a policy to always help when asked for helicopter assistance.
The chopper is stored in a hange on the top deck.  It takes three crew 15 minutes to have her fully operational.

This particular ship was renamed the Steve Irwin with Terri Irwins blessing."Steve Irwin's life demonstrated how one person can make a significant difference in the world," said Watson. "Steve wanted to come to Antarctica with us to defend the whales and now he is able to join us in spirit with his name emblazoned on the fastest and most powerful whale protection ship in the world." - The Fleet

We had a wonderful morning on board and enjoyed the sight of Melbourne from the deck.  So if you are in Melbourne make some time to come down to the quay and have a look around you wont be dissappointed.


Blessings
Chareen

More on the web

• Sea Shepherd.org
• Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
• Sea Shepherd Australia
• Sea Shepherd on Flicker
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Facebook

Sea Shepherd's Flagship the Steve Irwin.

The Steve Irwin is currently docked in Williamstown VIC, at Seaworks located on Williamstowns Waterfront, at Pier 82, Nelson Place.

Free tours and donation stall are on Saturdays and Sundays 10 AM to 5 PM.

HSMJ - Permission to Pin

In my life this week…

With all the hype in the blogging world over Pinterest on whether to pin or not to pin I followed a link from All Things Beautiful and I read Do You have Permission to Pin over at Corkboard Connections and decided to give official permission for people to pin from my blog.

I took the plunge this week and started a Facebook page so if you are on Facebook I would love to connect with you and chat.  Please pop on over and like the page and say hello. 

I met some new bloggers and enjoyed surfing the www. I struggled about whether or not to do a product review after I discovered that they wanted life long advertising in exchange for a 90 day use of their site.  What would you have done ? 

In our homeschool this week…

• We went to see the Sea Shepherd. (post on this adventure tomorrow)
• Played with lego and built all sorts of amazing structures.
• Completed week 16 of Core K and Science A.
• Watched episode three from the The Private Life of Plants.
• We finished the book Eggs and Chicks. 
• In the Internet-Linked Children's Encyclopedia we read about plants, Victorian Era and Dolphins this week. We used their Quicklinks page to view a few sites on Dolphins.
• We are still enjoying Dr Doolittle 
• While reading The Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose I have noticed that Sir N is starting to understand the subtle innuendo when I am reading these poems to him.  It's so cute listening to him giggle at the funny bits.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• Sarah over at Amongst Lovely things has posted a post titled Ruth Beechick 101. If you are a little worn out and in need of some encouragement. Head on over and check out Sarah's post.
• Rebecca over at Mom's Mustard Seeds has written a well balanced post on how she decided on their method of homeschooling.  This is a great article to share with new home school Mums and veteran Mums alike.  There is a Method To our School at Home.
• Are you homeschooling in New South Wales (Australia) ?  Would like a little insight into how to do your exemption? Pop on over to Rendezvous Junction where you can look at Miss Z (high school) registration, Master J documentation (Year 7) and Miss E Year 1  You can view pdf's of the process and what to submit.

I am inspired by…

• My bloggy friend Jo.  Jo bloggs over at Princess Warrior Lessons and suffers from hashimotos-disease and this week had to make a very difficult decision to send her boy warriors to school due to complex health issues.  Jo has blogged about this heart rending decision and as a result of this majour change is experiencing many feelings and has asked for support.  Please pop over and encourage her during this hard time. 
• Stacy over at Your Sacred Calling who has two great posts recently: Worldliness: Don’t Walk as the Gentiles… and Serving God in the Mundane

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• Last week Saturday evening I joined my father, brother and his kids for a train trip to Etihad Stadium to watch a rugby match.  We watched a match between Wales and Australia.  Australia won by the skin of their teeth in the very last seconds of the match.  It was nail biting and so much fun. It's been at least 30 years since I last joined my Dad for a ride on a train to a match. 
• Monday saw us visit my sister and help her on her newest adventure which just happened to be my favourite thing this week!
• On Tuesday we joined some fellow home educators and went for a day trip to see The Sea Shepherd.
• It has been too cold to venture out for the rest of the week so we have been enjoying our centrally heated home.
• My Mom came over for a cuppa.

My favorite thing this week was…

• Helping my sister start her new blog.  Maryleen has been blessed with an artistic gift and I love to see the things she has made or the things she is currently working on.  I have been encouraging her to start a blog and share some of her creations.  The result is Cherished Moments in Time. Please pop on over and welcome her to blog land.

What’s working/not working for us…

• not making it to the library to stock up on books for our next adventure on Expedition Earth.

Questions/thoughts I have…

• What are the sorts of things you like to see shared on Facebook pages ?

Things I’m working on…

• Heee Heee Meme started by Victor with the intention of spreading laughter and hilarity throughout blogland. I was tagged by Vicky and reminded of my need to add a post by Erin.
• Back in April Jennifer from Little Homeschool on the Prairie tagged me in a Good Random Fun Meme.  

I’m reading…

•  Strangers Passing Judgement over at Seven Little Australians.
• Cream of the Crop by Erin about an Australian History living book series which has whet my appetite.
• Fit for Photography by Peter Lik. 

• Friendship sound advice over at Mrs Clark it's about blogs tea and me. 
• The daily 7 for a highly successful household over at Totally Together Journal.
•  Time Management for Moms over at Totally Together Journal.
• Starting a Family Game Night  over at Totally Together Journal. It's not about winning or losing. It's how you play the game. - Grantland Rice.  This post has a great breakdown of family games in three sections: Preschool Games(No reading required), Young School-Aged Children (but still fun for older kids/adults) & Older Elementary-aged children to adult.

I’m cooking…

• Soup.  It's cold here and the time of the year for old fashioned crock pot cooking and soup.  Got any favourites you like to cook ?
• My husband cooked some trout in the barbeque /smoker.  Can't wait to try out the new flavour. 
• I found a great blog via Pinterest  called A Year of Slow Cooking.  I am keen to try use some of her recipe's. The recipes have been listed in two ways: The Entire Year, in order OR Table of Contents, A Year of Slow Cooking.

On Pinterest I found...

• Plenty of Photography tutorials.  This is my latest adventure and I am really enjoying learning how to use a DSLR camera.
• One of my newest projects is looking for home school helps in teaching Character.
• Sir N has been enjoying playing with his lego.  Pinterest has some excellent practical ideas for you.

I’m grateful for…

•  Great friends who support and encourage me.  For my new blog friends who inspire encourage and coach me on this blogging journey and the ones who are donating e product for a blog birthday give away.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Break Free from Your Mold Zenos Frudakis 2000

Blessings

This post is linking to:
Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
The Homeschool Chick

The Home school Mother’s Journal began as a single post on a Friday morning over at The Homeschool Chick, and turned into a link-up for homeschool mothers across the blog-O-sphere to share a piece of their journey with one another each week.

The link party has moved and is now hosted over at iHomeschool Network and is open from Friday to Monday so join me in The Homeschool  Mothers Journal and lets encourage one another on our homeschool journey.

A Bit of Fun ... 11 & 11 & 11 & 11

I've been "tagged" by Jennifer over at Little Homeschool on the Prairie and I thought this looked like fun! Be sure to pop on over to her space.  Jennifer has a published book and shares some great practical homeschool craft ideas.
The Rules:

1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random facts about you.
3. Answer the questions given to you in the tagger’s post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag new people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and let them know they have been tagged.

A Photo ...

11 Random Facts about Me

1. I'm six foot tall.
2. I was blessed with two big babies [One was 4.185 kg (9 lb 2 oz) and the other was 4.42 kg (9 Lb 74 oz)]
3. I don't wear makeup.
4. I am not a shoe person.  I like my sneakers in winter and my Piper Sandals for summer.
5. I have worn the same style sandal for 27 years. I bought my last pair from Piper Sandals and will never use a different brand.  The quality is the best I have ever found.
6. I love the smell of percolated coffee but can't stand the taste!
7. I have more than 4 000 books on my shelves.  (No you don't need a personal library to homeschool that is my personal pet collect.)
8. I got engaged at 18 I was married at 19
9. My first born was born on my 21st birthday.  Yes you read that right.  We share a birthday and I'm still trying to convince him that it's mine because I got there first ;o)
10. I am a South African, Kiwi import to Australia....  I was born in South Africa, migrated and naturalised to become a New Zealand citizen in 2001, and now I live in Australia.
11. I like to watch rugby and enjoy the Tri-Nations even more because it doesn't matter who wins I am behind the winning team.   (see point ten above).

 Jennifer's Questions / My Answers

1. What’s your favorite verse or quote?
   I have a few.  Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. This is the one that is currently the edge of my learning curve.
2. What’s your favorite family activity?
   Reading a good book out loud.
3. Favorite book?
   Oh my this is a hard one I have a few. Homeschooling - A Charlotte Mason Companion,  Christian novel - Mark of the Lion Trilogy 
4. Favorite room in the house? My office, I'm really enjoying blogging and learning the skills needed for this.
5. If you could visit any place, where would you go and why?
   I need to break the rules on this one and give two: I would love to go to Israel, and see the places that Jesus ministered. I would also love to go to Yellowstone National Park in the US. I did a project on the park in high school and ever since then I've wanted to see it in person.
6. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
   A pilot. I would still love to get my Private Pilots Licence. Anyone out there willing to sponsor me ?
7. Who or what inspires you?
   I have a few authors who inspire me such as Karen Andreola, Sally Clarkson and Diana Waring. I am inspired and encouraged by many of my blog friends.
8. How would you describe yourself in five words or less?
   Homeschool Mom, Curious, Book-holic, Information Junky,
9. Why did you start blogging?
   To share resources with the wider homeschool community. I missed my friend in New Zealand who used to share all her treasures with me.
10. How would you describe your style of homeschooling?
    Eclectic Sonlighter. I love Sonlight but over time I have found a couple of other things I prefer using so for my spine I use Sonlight and then eclecticly fill in the rest.
11. What’s one of the most important lessons you’ve ever learned?
    Not to have concrete result expectations. To be patient and give it time.

My Questions

1. What are you reading at the moment ?
2. What blogging advice would you give a new blogger ? (two tips)
3. What is your idea of a perfect day ?
4. Do you use a curriculum and if so which one ?
5. How do you do it all and find time to blog ?
6. What are your top three traits in a friend ?
7. Do you use Pinterest ?(Please share your link)
8. What are the top three home school blogs you visit ? (please link to them)
9. Do you join in link up parties ?  If so which ones ?
10. Do you use Notebook pages ?  If so where do you access yours from ?
11. Do you do Nature Journaling ? If so have you blogged about your methods ?

I would love to hear from these ladies

1. Vicky over at Creating with Wisdom
2. Erin over at Seven Little Australians.
3. Sarah over at Amongst Lovely Things
4. Catherine over at Serenades and Solace.
5. Deborah over at The Paper Maid.
6. Chelle over at Last in Line.
7. Rebecca over at Moms Mustard Seeds.
8. Becca over at  One Homeschool Journey.
9. Lisa over at Home to 4 Kiddos
10. Jenni over at Our Journey.
11. Alyson over at Family Style School.

Please, consider yourselves "tagged", even if I don't stop by your blog to leave official word. If you decide to play along and have some fun, I'd love to read your posts :) If any other readers want to play along as well, feel free! Leave me a comment with a link to your post and I'll make sure to visit and I will add you to the list!

So far I have enjoyed reading posts from Susan and Jennifer.

Blessings
Chareen

TT - The Phantom Tollbooth

 Welcome to Tuesdays Treasures.  I started these posts as a way of sharing great books in honour of my friend in New Zealand who would arrive with the treasures she had unearthed at her weekly trip to the library!

There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so I invite you to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library and add your post to Learning All the Time Favourite Resource Link Up. 



This week ...

The Phantom Tollbooth

by Norton Juster

This book is amazing !  If you love reading then this is a must for your shelf.  It is so much fun.  I enjoyed the play on words and the literal use of words. This was one of those I can't put it down I need to find out what happens next.

On the back cover: For Milo, everything's a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he's got nothing better to do.  But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the island of conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescu Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it's exciting beyond his wildest dreams ...

 I agree with what Maurice Sendak said: " - the same excitement and sheer delight in glorious lunatic linguistic acrobatics."

• Format: Paperback
• Number of Pages: 256 Pages
• Vendor:  Random House Books for Young Readers.
• Publication Date: 
• ISBN: 0394820371
• Author Norton Juster
• Illustrator: Jules Feiffer

Over at the Book Depository "Illustrated in black-and-white. This ingenious fantasy centers around Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. Joining forces with a watchdog named Tock, Milo drives through the tollbooth's gates and begins a memorable journey. He meets such characters as the foolish, yet lovable Humbug, the Mathemagician, and the not-so-wicked "Which," Faintly Macabre, who gives Milo the "impossible" mission of returning two princesses to the Kingdom of Wisdom"

Blessings

A review - Grammarly

Are you looking for an automated proof reader and grammar checker ?  Grammarly may be your answer.

I have spent the last week experimenting with this site and researching reviews of the product.

Did you know that you can have documents checked for grammar,  spelling and plagiarism via an automated system?

How does it work ?
It's as simple as one, two, three

1. Write your  text. 
2. Copy 
3. Paste it into the text editor.  
4. Press "Check Text," 

Once the process has completed you will be issued with an immediate report.

The free report highlights issues detected and supplies you with a full review list covering: plagiarism, Contextual Spelling Check, Grammar, Punctuation, Style and Word Choice. You have the option of viewing a Full Report.  When you click on this button a pop up window opens with a full list of areas checked with a green check or red cross highlighting the issues reviewed.

Next to the generated report you are then given the option to create an account to access the advanced editing features which contain explanations and solutions to the errors noted in your text.

What does it cost ?
My only gripe about the site is that you can't find an answer straight away.  You need to sign up to Grammarly to find the pricing structure or do a search through their Support Desk area.

Grammarly is a monthly subscription service available for use via the Internet.  You may however check your text and receive an instant FREE report without registration.

You will need to register to receive a detailed description of issues detected along with recommended changes and explanations of the issues highlighted. To register for Grammarly you need to enter your name, e-mail and password as well as select what you will use Grammarly mostly for (Academic, Professional & Personal).

You will then be redirected to a screen to choose your method of payment. (Paypal or Credit Card)

• Monthly Subscription - $29.95/month
• Quarterly Subscription - $19-95/month*
(* billed as one payment of $59-95)
• Annual Subscription - $11-66/month**
(** billed as one payment of $139-95)

These prices are current as of June 2012 and can change at anytime. Current Pricing Plans can be found under the Frequently Asked Questions / Licensing and Pricing via the Support Desk.
 
The subscription screen is simple and clear. You are given seven days to a FREE trial of Grammarly and the option of downloading a version to use in Microsoft Word. Beware that you make a note of when your seven days are up so that you can cancel your free trial before you are automatically charged your first month's subscription.

Once you have signed up you will be taken to the subscribers are and prompted to copy and paste your text.


What are the differences between the free report and subscription version ?

Free Report

Free Report Area

• In the Free reporting area you do not have the option to choose the style of writing you are submitting.
• Simple list of issues detected with a pop up window containing a list of areas reviewed with a green check or red cross highlighting the issues needing to be reviewed

Grammarly Subscription Area

Subscription Area

• When you hover over the "Start Review" button you will be prompted to select the style of writing submitted (General, Business, Academic, Technical, Creative or Casual).
• Detailed list of areas found.  It highlights the grammatical error in red. When you click on the error a drop down box appears naming the error highlighted and supplies a description of the error along with suggested corrections for you to choose from.   I found them interesting to read and at times a little too wordy for me. 
• There is an option to ignore the issue highlighted. 
• If you do not understand the issue highlighted there is a link to Have your question answered by the community.
• To the right there is a column for you to choose which areas of the review you would like to work on. EG other, Passive voice, Writing Style.
• Synonym button to help you find replacement words as you work on your document.
• An option to save your report as a PDF document for reference. This report is clear and concise.  It gives you a summary of the issues detected along with the date that the report has been generated. Next it pastes your original text highlighting the error in yellow with superscript numbers for each issue. It has a box below the sentence with a mini report of the issue highlighted.
• If plagiarism is detected Grammarly recommends proper annotation of your source and supplies hyperlinks showing you the source of the information on the web.

Summary
I found Grammarly to be quick and easy to use.  I was impressed with the issues that Grammarly did detect.  In my initial test I was a little in awe of the suggestions and overwhelmed with some of the technical information.  Upon re-reading the paragraph along with it's issues about 30% were contextual and irrelevant.

As a blogger I am very concerned about plagiarism and Grammarly correctly detected two areas but a third was incorrect.  I liked the fact that Grammarly gave me live links to see what it had detected.

I was pleased with the suggested synonyms for commonly used words and the improvement to my writing that applying these suggestions brought about.

Personally I would like to improve my writing structure and style, but price performance wise it is out of my current budget being as it is a subscription based product.   I would however consider saving up and using it if I was in university or in my final year of high school.

Does Grammarly have any extra's ?

• Ask Grammarly experts any question about English grammar, style or vocabulary use.
• Are you struggling with grammar mistakes or don't understand a particular rule ? Head on over to the Grammarly Handbook where you will find an excellent site filled with divided into Grammar, Punctuation, Mechanics, Sentence Style and clarity and a  Imporove Your Writing,
• Looking for synonyms ? Have you tried Grammarly Words ?

What about you ?  What do you use to check your grammar ?

Blessings
Chareen

What others are saying on the web

• TopTen Reviews has an excellent overview on this product along with detailed explanations of Grammarly's specification performance.  They also have a first class side by side comparison chart comparing Grammarly to other products currently on the market.
• Improve Your Writing with Grammarly a review by a college professor.
• I was impressed with their business ethic when I read a four part blog review on Street Smart Language Learning detailing Grammarly's response to complaints. 
• I did discover that if you are majoring in English and want to use Grammarly to check your work it is not the right product for you. Most of the issues that Grammarist.com high light are way beyond me and I can't put my finger on the issues they are picking up on.

Disclosure.

• I was given a three month subscription to the value of $60 to review this product. 
• All opinions expressed here are solely my own, and I only suggest products or services that I believe will be helpful to my readers. 
• There are NO affiliate links in this post or on my blog in relation to Grammarly.

HSMJ 22 - Griping about Blog Giveaways ...

In my life this week…

I have been experimenting and learning how to use the Canon EO5 DSLR we were given.  Paul happily babysat as I went out one evening to photograph the homeward bound traffic.  This photo was in response to a photo challenge to capture movement. What do you think ?
It's been a week of nursing a sick husband and son who had the flu. Starting back with official school and planning our year ahead. We currently work on a five week cycle.  Four weeks of school then one week off to rest which works well.  Although at the moment we will be starting with a six week cycle so we can fit in a complete school year and finish two weeks before Christmas.
 
In our home school this week…

• Week 15 Sonlight Core
• Worked on preparing our South Africa section of Expedition Earth papers.
• Sir N started reading Book 1 in the I Can Read It!
• We are currently reading:  Dr Doolittle

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• Have you seen the Tech Coach ? Check out this blog it's full of FREE on line games and virtual tours from Typing Tutors, Maths Games, Rocks & Minerals, History etc.  If you can think of a category you can find a post covering what's on the web for your child.  EXCELLENT Resource.
• Are you are looking for a great way to teach Biblical World View to your 6-14 year old? Apologia has a new product range on the market called What We Believe consisting of Journals, Colouring Books, CD's and Main Text for you to look at.  Lori over at Special Connection Home School has written an excellent introduction of Who am I ? which is the second book in the series.

I am inspired by…

• Homeschooling Without Judgment of Those Who Don’t by Belinda on Heart of the Matter. I give this article a definitive 10 out of 5!
• Ten ways to de-clutter your life over at Natural News.com

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• This week we visited my sister and sister in law.

My favorite thing this week was…

• Seeing Sir N rediscover his delight in cuddling with Daddy and reading a great book. 

What’s working/not working for us…

• 
  

Questions/thoughts I have…

 
• Why is it that all the big home school companies don't bless anyone outside their own country with giveaways ??  Even though they have a large customer base off shore ?  This is one of my pet frustrations at the moment. Sigh ...
• Do you know of any Australian Home school Companies willing to supply giveaways for Aussie bloggers ?
• Do you know of any Australian Bloggers hosting give aways ? It's my blog's 1st Birthday and I want to celebrate with some digital giveaways and have no idea how to access some product.  Any volunteers out there ?
• Deborah over at The Paper Maid answered this question for me even before my post went up today. Tammy over at 1...2...3... Teach with Me is hosting a 200 Follower Giveaway. For a chance to win one of the prizes there are six possible blogs to follow or TpT stores to follow totaling a possible 12 entries. Winners will be announced on 20 June 2012.

Things I’m working on…

• My Top Ten Favourite Read Alouds post.
• 52 in 52 book reviews Five Chimneys and A Stolen Life
• Mount Washmore ... need I explain ??
• Completing my first ever sponsored product review.  So much fun.  This post will go live on Monday 18 June.

I’m reading…

• Using Pinterest in Homes Schooling Part 1 over at The Chaos and The Clutter.
• Parental Rights over at Mom's Mustard Seeds.
• Five Ways to Avoid Home School Mom Body over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
• Say Bye-bye to Blogger Body, and Hello to Better Health over at Pro Blogger
• Don't let Facebook come between us over at The Nourishing Home. This is a great post explaining how to set up your Facebook so that you don't miss out on any of the great posts from the pages you have liked. 
• What Do You Do If You Discover Your Daughter is Having Sex? over at To Love Honour and Vacuum.
• Journaling the Journey over at The Heart of Simplicity.

I’m cooking…

• Nothing new this week.

On Pinterest I found...

• Ami Brainerd from (Home School Share).  I spent far to long poking around her boards.  She has some excellent home school boards to look through.  The thing I have enjoyed about Ami's boards is that she has very specifically themed boards such as: Summer Suppers, From Scratch, Deep Blue Sea School, Lego School, FIAR Co-op Ideas to name a few. 
• Jolanthe from Homeschool Creations.  
• Deborah Perrot from The Papermaid.

I’m grateful for…

• Using Photography to Make a Heartfelt Difference 

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Source: Facebook  Healing with Art.

Blessings

This post is linking to:
Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
iHomeschool Network

The Home school Mother’s Journal began as a single post on a Friday morning over at The Homeschool Chick, and turned into a link-up for home school mothers across the blog-O-sphere to share a piece of their journey with one another each week.

The link party has moved and is now hosted over at iHomeschool Network and is open from Friday to Monday so join me in The Homeschool  Mothers Journal and lets encourage one another on our home school journey.